NWC News Desk

Point guard Augusto out for NWC women

The regional tournament hopes of the Northwest College women’s basketball team took a potentially severe blow last week. 

Andressa Augusto, Northwest’s starting point guard, third-leading scorer and offensive linchpin, is out with an undisclosed injury, perhaps for the remainder of the season. The team will await the results of Friday’s impending MRI before Augusto’s status is determined, according to NWC head coach Janis Beal. 

The injury, which Augusto has played with all season, got progressively worse and forced the 5-6 Brazilian to sit for the first time Saturday in Casper, Beal said. 

The Trappers lost that game 73-58 and committed 20 turnovers without their primary ballhandler. 

“We’re definitely going to miss having her on the floor,” Beal said. 

Beal said the team will turn to backup guards Mandee Christensen and Sierra Williams to run the point, and will also rely on starting shooting guard Leanne Winterholler at times. 

“We’re going to have our other guards step up,” Beal said.

Christensen, a freshman, scored four points, had two assists and committed four turnovers in 23 minutes at the point. Williams, a sophomore, hit Northwest’s only two 3-pointers of the night and turned the ball over twice in 12 minutes of play. 

Beal didn’t expect a smooth transition in her team’s first game without its offensive leader. 

“With an impact player like Andressa, that first game playing without them is an adjustment period for the teams as a whole,” the coach said. 

But Beal expects the Trappers to make the needed adjustments going forward. 

“Our next game, they will be a little more comfortable in their role without her,” she said. 

The Trappers are embroiled in a battle for Region IX Tournament seeding (which begins March 1) and will need a total team effort to mask the loss of Augusto. 

Beal said she doesn’t plan on altering the team’s offensive philosophy, but she does want to shore things up on the other end of the floor. 

“We want to generate some offense from defense,” the coach said. “I feel like early in the year we were getting a lot of that. 

“I don’t think we’re going to make any dramatic changes,” she said.

 

Contact

Tim Carpenter
Tim.Carpenter@nwc.edu
Communications/Web & Social Media Specialist
307-754-6009